about

There’s a story about two young fish swimming. They see an older fish who stops and asks: “Hey boys! How’s the water?”

The young fish look at each other and then finally one says: "What the hell is water?"

I began my yoga journey rather spontaneously after stumbling on one of my dearest friends' article on MindBodyGreen. Jamie's words struck a chord in me - BIG TIME. She wrote, "When we're always told what our reality is, it can be hard to see the beauty around us. Worse, it can be hard to see the beauty within us."

I was studying psychology around the time I came across Jamie's writing. This was a time when unhealthy perfectionistic ideals polluted my head and clouded my perspective. Just like the young fish in the story, I was swimming, unaware of the water, unaware of how deep I had gone. It wasn't until my first chillin' flow class with Jamie that I experienced myself - my body, my emotions, my thoughts, my ego - for real.

Yoga helped me to come back to my body. Though the yearning for perfection still exists, I no longer feel forced to follow that desire. Because it's an illusion. It's a false promise that trips me. Instead, I take a break and ask myself "How am I doing this [life] beautifully?" (Thank you Jamie!)

Whenever I'm faced with an emotionally triggering situation, I try to show up and ask myself these questions: How can I stay human in this difficult moment? How can I stay connected to my true self despite the wounds, the defects, and scars?

The answer is always the same....Stay grounded, take a break, take a breath. Life is a practice of flowing in and out of balance, of gently guiding the self back into the body and eventually into the seat of compassion, the heart.